We left Portland airport at the early hour of 6AM on Wednesday morning, October 7. We finally arrived into the airport in Guayaquil Ecuador at 2:30 AM Thursday October 8 after a three hour delay in Miami. When we arrived one of our bags did not arrive with us but it arrived on Thursday night and we picked it up on Friday morning. We arrived at the beginning of a big independence celebration. The town is busy and full of folks. Friday we watched much of the long parade where many of the school groups marched, or rather danced, along the parade route. We had difficulty finding a room the first night but part of that was due to the very early morning arrival. Our taxi driver did manage to find us a room for the night and the next morning we snagged a room in a nearby hotel that is both cheaper and we can keep through the weekend.

Friday afternoon Frank and Shirley (of Windsong) arrived and we managed to also snag them a room into the hotel with us. We all walked down to the Malecón, walkway along the waterfront, and joined the crowds there. Frank and Shirley had their yacht club card and that got us all into the rather exclusive Guayaquil Yacht Club, where we had a wonderful late lunch. Then we took our friends to our favorite restaurant/bar overlooking the water where we enjoyed beers and visited while we waited for dark to fall and the fireworks to fly. The fireworks were spectacular as the rockets were shot up rapidly from three barges. It ended in a slight mishap when the supply of rockets caught fire one one of the barges and burned shooting off the remaining stash of fireworks. The other two barges continued on with the display and the mishap seemed to not cause any real damage or injuries.

Today (Saturday) after breakfast, the four of us climbed the Santa Ana Hill to the light house and the fabulous view over the city. There have been many more homes and structures restored along the walk up the hill since we last visited this area. This area contains some of the oldest buildings in the city. We climbed down and walked to the other end of Malecón where there is an artisan’s market. With tired legs we returned down the Malecón to find a dinner and a few beers and then it was off to the hotel as it was already after 8PM and we were ready for a nice rest.